Jason_Martin

Just got off today. The route is in great condition. There are very few sketchy crevasse crossings. The wind has been rather strong over the last few days. Apparently on tuesday rocks were being blown off Ruth Ridge and were nearly hitting people. High on the mountain the winds would often calm and then suddenly hit us with tremendous force out of nowhere... We saw Mark Twight up there. He was training a bunch of FBI guys in glacier travel. Seemed a bit like Michael Jordon teaching someone how to dribble... As we left, the new weather report indicated that the freezing level would drop down to about six thousand feet. Hope this helps... Jason

I don't mean to be obnoxious but: Potentially Difficult Late Season Conditions + Little real glacier experience + Solo Climbing + A route that has seen both accidents and deaths this year + Twenty-one years old + The inability to look through a guidebook = No Climbing Permit I can't say that I blame the people down at Mt. Rainier for denying a permit. Good for them. Too much bad stuff going on around here this year. Disappointment Cleaver or Emmons glacier are both good routes for people new to Mt. Rainier. Jason

Saw those guys on the trail... They did fine. Jason

Alan Kearney's new book has some great beta on the route. I don't understand how one would descend the North Face... The Sherpa Glacier is an option if you need to descend to the same side of the mountain as the climb or if not, the Cascadian Couloir will bring you down the other side. Jason

Erik, You're thinking of Jon Waterman and Guy Waterman. I don't know who said it though. Jason

Thought I'd share this with the online community since so many people knew Randall. I received the following email this morning... Jason Notice to the AMGA community: Two weeks ago the guiding community lost one of it¹s shining members. Randal Grandstaff was killed while guiding in his home, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. Randal was the founder of Sky¹s the Limit guide service and climbing school and was the mentor to many young guides. He put up hundreds of routes in Red Rocks and was a brilliant rock climber and Certified Rock Guide. Autopsy showed Randall had advanced heart disease which would probably have taken his life in the coming months. The extent to which this played a role in his death is unknown. Randal had a thirst for life, for mountains and for the profession of the mountain guide that was inspirational to guides and climbers around the world. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, colleagues, clients and by the larger guiding and mountaineering communities. We are the mirror as well as the face in it. We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity. We are pain and what cures the pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours. Jellaludin Balkhi (Rumi) 12th Century Turkey Translated by Coleman Barks Randal will forever be part of the canyons he loved and of the people who loved him. Good bye my friend. Ramsay Thomas AMGA Vice President

On thursday there was still quite a bit of snow. There was no rock showing in the main gully at all. Though it has been warm and while we were there there was quite a bit of snow sloughing off. One party ahead of us elected not to climb the summit pyramid because of the amount of slough coming down. Jason

Dan, I'm on Baker so much it will make your head spin. I hope they do cross! Jason

Dan, I was up there on thursday. It would be a good ski right now. Skiable snow starts near the end of the logging road. There were no open crevasses on the route last week. Jason [ 06-19-2002, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: Jason Martin ]

Climbed it the weekend before last... At that time the upper portion of the gully had little snow it it and was quite loose. After the warm weather I doubt very much if the route is still in. Jason

I don't want to spread too many rumors about this incident, but following is the information that I have heard. There is a lot of speculation which has been ommitted. Randall was guiding the Great Red Book in Red Rocks. His student rappelled the route safely. Inexplicably, Randall fell to the ground and died on impact. Randall was a great climber with numerous first ascents. He was also a friendly and engaging person. He will be missed. Jason [ 06-18-2002, 01:46 PM: Message edited by: Jason Martin ]

If your partner is bleeding or severely injured, the sooner you can get him out the better. On the other hand, one could rappel down into the hole and provide first aid. Obviously it is situation dependent. For example, if the guy is not breathing, it is nearly imposible to provide effective CPR in a hole. The CZ is a fast way to get him out of the hole and provide appropriate treatment for his injuries. I agree with Iain, the lip is a huge deal. There was a case in Alaska where a woman was crushed against the lip and killed because they had excellent mechanical advantage, but kept pulling. It appeared that she got heavier but they didn't do anything about it. They didn't check and see why. Clearing the lip is one of the most important steps to a successful rescue. Jason

CrazyJZ and Alpine K, I know you guys are actually one... A few things... 1) I don't understand the animosity. I don't believe I attacked you in previous posts... 2) You should look into a penile implant. It might do you good. You know, give you a little courage. Perhaps you wouldn't hide behind a pretend name while attacking someone you don't know. 3) I will not be responding to you personally again. You're lack of knowledge and indeed your very existence is simply not worth my time. Jason [ 05-23-2002, 01:51 PM: Message edited by: Jason Martin ]

CrazyJZ, I work for a guide service. The CZ combination is something that we teach all the time. If you put yourself out there then you should be able to take care of yourself and those that you're with. After proper training a single person CAN pull another single person out of a crevasse quickly and effectively... And when I say quickly I'm not talking about hours here, I'm talking about minutes. If the problem in the crevasse is severe, it's best that you know what you're doing. Jason

Norman, The C/Z is complex. But it's really an essential piece of knowledge for the two man rope team as it is quite difficult for a single person to pull his partner out using just a Z. To add the C it's assumed that you've already built your Z. Tie the end of the rope into the anchor and send a large bite of the rope down to the edge of the crevasse. The idea is to create a C coming off the anchor and going to the line that you were originally pulling on for the Z. Put a prusik on this line (the original line you were pulling on for the Z) and attach it to the the line that is coming off the anchor as a C. Now to get your partner out you must pull on the C line that is attached to the Z line. It's quite complex and confusing and definately not easy to explain without a demonstration. It's even more complex when there is additional crevasse danger in the area. To really get this thing down it's probably best to take a course from a guide service. Most of them provide training in how to create this type of set-up effectively. Jason

As Alex and I continue to work on a guidebook about Ice Climbing in Washington State, periodically there are reports that make us raise our eyebrows. However, unfounded claims tend to fall apart when looked at closely. For two days now people have been looking at this claim closely. As far as I'm concerned it holds up. People who have climbed with Colin support his ascent... This is a pretty key factor. People would NOT be vouching for him if they thought he was: 1) Making the story up. 2) Incapeable of such a feat. 3) Had a history of making up false trip reports. Lastly Colin said something that is key to his defense -- not that I think he needs to be defended. quote: I just got back from showing my slides to a friend at Pro Mountain Sports, and some friends at Feathered Friends -- if you'd like to see them, I'd be happy to show them to you as well. I've spent a little bit of time climbing as well. And it seems that periodically I run into people I know on the summits of mountains or on trails or wherever. Often I think my party is the only one there. BUT I DIDN'T SEE ANY TRACKS! This is primarily because I really wasn't looking for tracks. Generally I don't spend my time on the glaciers scouring them for tracks. And for some reason I doubt that those who would knock Colin's claim did either. I don't really understand the animosity towards this climber. He made a claim... A claim I don't see as unreasonable and he has people who back him up. Those who would denouce such a claim don't hold much water. Jason

When I was a young climber I was a poor college student. In a way this helped me develop the best rack possible. Let me explain. I started with the gear I needed the most. I started with a set of stoppers and a set of hexes. I climbed with this small rack for a long time (Two Years) before I slowly began to add cams to the rack. As a result I really understood how to use this basic equipment well. The other thing was that I had the opportunity to climb with a number of people with a number of different types of racks. In the end I bought the cams I liked the most, instead of those that were cheapest when I first started leading. I really believe that one should spend time climbing with different gear before shelling out tons of money for gear that they don't like. Think about it more as an investment than a need to get gear right this second. Jason

quote: Far worse, of course, would be to belay out from the wall with no anchor. One should never belay far out from the wall. A belayer should ideally be right underneath a leader as he climbs. Anchoring one's self far out from the wall with a leader climbing is an invitation to all kinds of additional problems and dangers. quote: If my partner outweighed me by something in the possible range of 50 - 100%, I would prefer to be anchored when belaying as well, since a whipper by the climber would otherwise launch me off the ground towards the first piece of pro. If your partner outweighs you by one-hundred percent you should probably do some serious thinking about your choice of partners. However on the flip side, I'd sure tie myself down as well. There is nothing wrong with a dynamic fall where one's partner is lifted off the ground a short distance. However every situation is different. There are definately places where one would be required to tie one's self down to the ground in order to create a safer climbing environment. Generally speaking these situations are not abundant at popular crags. And lastly, as stated above I'm always very concerned about the mobility of a person on the ground... Especially at popular climbing areas. Things such as biners and gear fall all too often. Jason [ 05-13-2002, 09:40 PM: Message edited by: Jason Martin ]

Generally speaking, using the small hole on the eight as a stich plate is much safer than using the eight in rappel mode. Using it in rappel mode is not wrong, just more dangerous. It is far more acceptable to have it in rappel mode when providing a dynamic belay in a snow situation. In other words, intentionally letting a climber fall a short distance while slowing them down and slowly bringing them to a stop. In this truly dynamic instance one is able to preserve a snow seat belay effectively. An eight is a nice device for this. The biggest problem with belaying via an eight in rappel mode is the fact that it simply doesn't offer that much friction. In a steep rock or ice setting this could be a problem. As far as being tied into the ground... One issue that hasn't been addressed is the safety of a belayer. If a person is tied into the ground, they are far less capable of dodging falling rocks or gear. Jason [ 05-13-2002, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: Jason Martin ]

Dru is correct... Looking back at my earlier post I realize I did not mention to plug in a piece or two between the short belays. This is an important step. But I do stand by the fact that super short pitches are an excellent way to learn about leading and building anchors in preperation for a much longer climb. Jason [ 05-08-2002, 01:31 PM: Message edited by: Jason Martin ]

I've spent the last few summers guiding in the Cascades, so my exposure to crevasse danger is pretty high. Generally speaking, I punch my leg through a completely hidden crevasse about once a week. I've had this happen in May and I've had it happen in August. I have fallen in up to my chest three times. One of those times I was on Mt. Hood. We had just finished an ascent of the Sandy Glacier Headwall and come down the south side. We unroped and I took about three steps and went in up to my chest. As you can probably guess it was pretty scary. This was about six years ago, before I began guiding and it made a lasting impression on me. As a rule of thumb a dry glacier is a glacier with no snow on it. One can see all the danger because you are walking on ice. A wet glacier is a glacier with snow on it. One cannot see all the danger because the snow obscures it. I personally always rope up on a wet glacier. For newbies this is a good rule of thumb. There is nothing wrong with going solo on a glacier as long as you are aware of the fact that if you do fall in a hole...you're probably going to die. But in reality this is no different from soloing easy rock. If you screw up, the consequences are big. I don't think anyone has the right to lecture soloists though. Hopefully they are soloing because they are skilled and understand the consequnces of screwing up. One last comment about crevasse rescue procedures... Putting a C-System inside of a Z-system is an extremely effective way of pulling a person out of a hole by yourself. Jason

Lots of good beta here! All of the preceding locations are great. Here's a little info on "practice" leading: 1) It's best to look at an experienced leader's placements. See what works and what doesn't. Look at the surface area of the gear on the rock and such. 2) Placing gear on toprope, dragging another rope up and "mock" leading is one of the best ways one can learn to lead. If you don't have two ropes, consider making a big loop with your single rope. Tie in with the line running up to the anchors, back down to your partner's belay, and then back to you. Thus you are dragging a rope up below you with which you can clip into gear and practice the art of leading. Once again, having an experienced leader look at the placements is a great advantage. 3) It has been stated already, but aid climbing is a great way to figure out what will hold and what won't. 4) Of course you should practice your placements on the ground before doing any real leading. Put pieces in, then pull and tork on them to see if they will come out. 5) Once you have a good idea of gear placements, it's not a bad idea to do extremely short pitches on a 5.0-5.4 route. In other words climb up five feet and build an anchor, then have your partner climb five feet above you and build another anchor. Do this until you are at the top of the crag. Obviously you'd want to choose an unpopular route for this type of training... You would also want to understand the concepts behind a SRENE anchor set-up as described in John Long's book. After you've completed all the steps above you should have a pretty solid idea as to how to lead on gear. Jason

I did the West Ridge in early May about four years ago. There was no snow on the route... We had gone in to do the South Face, but it started to rain. We just were not willing to bail after making that long approach. Jason

What does Larry look like? I may have had a "disagreement" with this gentleman as well. But I was so angry at the time that I neglected to find out who the individual I was talking too was. The person who I came into contact with bullied my girlfriend and gave me a ticket for parking in the snopark. I left the truck running, with my girlfriend in it in the Lake Wenatchee Snow Park while I jumped out to ask someone for directions to a particular road. I was away from the car for less than five minutes only to come back and find my girlfriend nearly in tears because the parking lot police ranger guy was such an ass to her. I'm generally a nice guy. Not one to get angry easily. But the confrontation with this gentleman was not pretty. After leaving -- still enraged -- I realized that I had not got this guy's name. Please describe Larry for me. If he fits the description of the guy I dealt with, I'll definately join the letter writing campaign. Maybe I'll join it anyway. This type of abuse is simply uncalled for. Jason

Looks like "The Zip."